Employers have complained that too many time-wasters are
applying to their online recruitment adverts.
Research carried out by the IRS Employment Review found that
although the online recruitment market is booming, most employers
are unhappy at the amount of unsuitable applications they
receive.
More than 60% of the 200 organisations that told IRS they had
introduced or increased online recruitment during 2003 said they
received inappropriate responses from the adverts they
placed.
IRS found that the problem was least apparent in the public sector
- where 90% of organisations attempted to fill vacancies online -
with the sector receiving the lowest percentage of unsuitable
applications.
Eighty per cent of the employers surveyed used their own websites
for online recruitment.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said there
were advantages and disadvantages to web recruitment and advised
companies to consider using both online and traditional methods to
find staff.
Advantages of online recruitment include the potential for shorter
recruitment cycle times, lower recruitment costs and being able to
reach a wider range of job applicants.
The institute said the disadvantages of online recruitment were
that it was not yet the first choice of a large percentage of job
seekers and not all potential applicants had ready access to the
internet.
Also, as the IRS survey found, the ease of applying for jobs online
may lead to more unsuitable applications being received, which have
to be screened out, cancelling out some of the savings the channel
offered.